Fry et al Drosophila Ethanol Resistance Selection Experiment

Outbred D.melanogaster populations subjected to >300 generations of natural selection on either control, or 12% ethanol, or variable food (2 replicates each) and exposed, as first instar larvae, to either water control or 12% ethanol. Six experimental populations were established from an outbred base population derived from flies collected in Raleigh, NC, U.S.A. in 1995. They were selected in either control (R), ethanol (E) or variable (M) selection regimes (2 replicate populations in each) according to the following protocol. Each generation of each population was initiated by allowing 20-30 adults to lay eggs in each of 50 vials containing either standard cornmeal-molasses-agar medium (all the vials in the R populations, and half of the vials in the M populations) or medium supplemented with 12% ethanol (half of the vials in the M populations, and all of the vials in the E populations). After 14 days, progeny from the different vials are mixed before being used to set up the next generation. Gene expression experiment conducted after >300 generations of selection as described below.